Professor Jones
English 1101, Section 33
8 December 2019
Three Identical Strangers: How The Story of the Triplets
Separated at Birth Captured the Attention of Millions
Log into your Netflix account, and chances are a new documentary film will be included in the “suggested for you” lineup. In the past few years, it was hard to escape talk of Surviving R Kelly or Abducted in Plain Sight. These films had “resounding appeal” with audiences (Nicols 4). And, the head of documentary commissioning at the BBC claims “there’s never been a better time to be a documentary film maker” (Sillery qtd. in “Docs” 24). However, this wasn’t always the case. Many people still associate documentaries with the film reels that high school teachers used to teach about the world wars or to show how cells multiply. Yet, documentaries have become so popular that film critic and documentary theory author, Bill Nicols, calls now the “golden age of documentaries [that] began in the 1980s” (1). One of the many films that has gained attention during this ‘golden age’ is Three Identical Strangers directed by Bill Wardle.
Three Identical Strangers (2018) tells the story of triplets separated at birth and what happens when they discover each other at 18 years old. The triplets’ story includes plenty of mystery and drama, and it leaves the audience with questions about research ethics, parenting style, and mental illness. Its storytelling is compelling, the production quality high, and it makes viewers question the raised topics long after the film ends. These are all characteristics of a well made documentary which led the movie to be one of the most talked about films of last year. In fact, … add quote about how well it was received, awards, or box office
One of the criteria for a documentary film is that it must be “about reality; [it’s] about something that actually happened” (Nicols 5). Three Identical Strangers is an gripping tale that at first suggestion seems unbelievable, yet there is plenty of evidence in the film that proves its truthfulness. Most people agree that separating twins would do emotional damage yet, in the 1960s, child psychiatrists “believed that children born of the same pregnancy and placed for adoption would fare better if they were raised by separate families” (Hoffman and Offenheim 10). The film’s truthfulness is evident by the fact that two of the triplets (Robert Shafran and David Kellman) provide in depth interviews covering the moments of their first meetings to the aftermath of Edward’s death. All the living parents of the triplets are interviewed and the news footage from the 1980s meetings plays on screen. Even the director was surprised with the men’s honesty telling Jake Nevins in The Guardian that “documentaries are only as good as the contributors and what they give you. And they gave me pretty much everything” (qtd. in Nevins).
To keep audiences entertained, all good films need a compelling storyline. This often comes from a narrative arc that includes a rising action, climax, falling action, and a conclusion. Even though documentaries are based on real events, in order to keep the story moving and audiences engaged, there needs to be a dramatic arc similar to those found in traditional dramas (“Docs” 24). Three Identical Strangers never lacks the drama. From the first scene with Bobby recalling being warmly greeted on campus by strangers (who believed he was Eddy), the audience is captivated. As Bobby tells about the dramatic drive to Eddy’s house, speeding ticket and all, the audience is riveted to see what will happen when the two meet. And, the meeting is just as joyful as viewers may have hoped. Yet within a few scenes, the music changes from upbeat to ominous as the film’s climax approaches. The change begins with foreshadowing by Eddy who states: “This will either be the best thing ever or ....[find quote]…" The mood quickly changes when the boys' adoptive parents head in to question Louise Wise Services about the reason they weren’t told about the boy’s triplet status.
Documentary theorist Bill Nicols defines and analyzes documentaries as a genre in his book Introduction to Documentary. The first chapter is titled “How Can we Define Documentary Film?” and includes many characteristics that docs share. Beyond being about a real event or person and having a compelling story, many documentaries offer fresh perspectives and alternate visions of a specific topic. Indeed, Three Identical Strangers does offer fresh perspectives. The speed in which the field of psychology has expanded is evident in this film. That the boys were used unknowingly in a research study is hard to believe by today’s standards. It shows that just within 30 years, the ways we go about conducting research has changed dramatically. It makes the audience wonder if some of the knowledge gained from studies that might not have been ethically or morally upstanding would have ever come about. Not many people would be willing to have their children’s lives altered for research purposes. Especially considering the purpose of the study was never made clear by the researcher Peter Neubauer.
Perceptions are also challenged regarding the ongoing “nature versus nurture” debate. Even if someone thinks he/she has an opinion about if personalities are formed more by genetics or environment, Three Identical Strangers may alter that vision. By the end of the film, even the researchers, the boys, their families, and experts on their case aren’t in agreement about which is stronger. In a way, the boys seem to have some major genetic factors that influence their behavior- including the fact that they were all at one time industrialized due to depression. On the other hand, could that have been because they were each adopted and so they felt they didn’t fit in in their family environment? These are the types of questions that good documentaries leave audiences asking. People are interested by nature in subject that make them question their beliefs and Three Identical Strangers brings up as many questions as it answers.
However, even the best and most popular films have their critics. In Three Identical Strangers, there is a villain (or villains) and the villain is Peter Neubauer and the people who helped to conduct or cover up his study. But, is Neubauer really the villain that the film makes him out to be? According to Leon Hoffman and Lois Oppenheim’s article published by the American Medical Association, it’s possible that Neubauer’s study wasn’t unpublished because of a cover up by “Washington” and the Jewish Services. Maybe it was that Dr. Neubauer, as Hoffman and Oppenheim state, was “fiercely committed to the children’s confidentiality in their roles of patients, research participants, and adoptees” and that all adoptions of the time were closed with sealed records to maintain “a measure of privacy around a characteristically painful decision” (11). Additionally, research at the time found that parenting twins was more challenging and that there could be “psychological issues [resulting from] a twin’s excessively close identification with or exaggerated independence from the other” (Hoffman and Oppenheim 11). So, separating twins or triplets wasn’t the sinister evil act that the film implies. There isn’t much objectivity from Wardle in his position on the Neubauer study.
Yet, despite the times when the film seems to be heavy-handed with providing the audience the point of view the director and the boys, overall, audiences are still positive with their reactions. In terms of creating a documentary that would be successful, Wardle did a wonderful job with Three Identical Strangers. He was able to take a story “ripped from the headlines” and put a human face on it. Audiences stayed engaged throughout with the narrative arc common in popular fictional dramas. The topics the film delved into will stay with audiences and will likely make many people want to do more digging. In fact, after the film was released, the boys (now men) began the prime-time interview circuit again and gains a new audience with each viewing.
Works Cited
“Docs Face up to Dramatic Times: Documentary Genre Report.” Televisual, Sept. 2017, pp. 24–28. EBSCOhost, libproxy.ggc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=125150187&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Hoffman, Leon, and Lois Oppenheim. “Three Identical Strangers and the Twinning Reaction-Clarifying History Lessons for Today From Peter Neubauer’s Twins Study.” JAMA, vol. 322, no. 1, July 2019, pp. 10-12. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1001/jama.2019.81
Nevins, Jake. “Three Identical Strangers: The Bizarre Tale of Triplets Separated at Birth.” The Guardian. 28 June 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/28/three-identical-strangers-the-bizarre-tale-of-triplets-separated-at-birth.
Nichols, Bill. “How Can We Define Documentary Film?” Introduction to Documentary, Third edition, Indiana University Press, 2017. pp. 1- 28, EBSCOhost, libproxy.ggc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1478201&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Three Identical Strangers. Directed by Tim Wardle, performances by Robert Shafran, Howard Schneider, and David Kellerman, CNN Films, 2018.